A household energy and indoor air quality study findings presented by the Ministry of Energy suggests that 50 percent of households currently use traditional 3-stone cooking spots.
In the study, outgoing Cabinet Secretary Ministry of Energy and Security Advisor nominee, Ambassador Dr. Monica Juma, says it is imperative that clean technologies in the cooking sector become a norm if the country is to attain the 100 percent clean cooking solutions for all Kenyans by 2028.
“As it is, 68 percent of Kenyans rely on traditional biomass fuels dominated by firewood at 65 percent. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) accounts for 19 percent, charcoal at 10 percent and kerosene at 6 percent with more than half the households using multiple fuels and technologies for cooking,” she said in the report adding that 30 percent of rural households and 54 percent of urban households use clean cooking technologies and fuels
Amb. Juma observed that the mandate of the Ministry of Energy is to facilitate the provision of clean, sustainable, affordable, reliable and secure energy for national development.
She added that the Ministry aims to ensure Kenyans are able to access competitively priced, reliable quality, safe and sustainable energy by implementing projects that promote clean cooking solutions.
The ambassador said the support for clean-cooking technologies in the cooking sector aims to bring a low carbon development pathway.
Juma argued that energy is a dominant contributor to climate change as it accounts for close to 60 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions.
She noted Bio energy provides 10 percent of the world’s primary energy supply in which an estimated three billion people rely on the use of wood, coal, charcoal and animal waste for cooking and heating in spite of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number seven on affordable and clean energy.
By Joseph Kamolo
